Ribbon feed



I. BROWN RIBBON FEED Jan. 30, 1934.

Filed Oct. 23. 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR I ATTORNEY TI 1. BROWNJan. 30, 1934.

RIBBON FEED ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1934. T. I. BROWN 3 1,944,964

RIBBON FEED Filed Oct. 25. 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 VENTOR 72 00795 (570mm,B Y

ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1934.

BROWN RIBBON FEED Filed 00t- 23. 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR 760/2905fi/aw/v.

BY y 54% ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1934. T. 1. BROWN 1,944,964

RIBBON FEED Filed Oct. 23. 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 720070: 5mm

BY p/mnm %%/zr ATTORN EY T. 1. BROWN Jan. 30, I934.

RIBBON FEED Filed Oct. 23

. 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 I INVENTOR 720074: fl/val/ BY J ATTORN EY otherspindle until the operation is repeated.

Patented Jan. 30, 1934 UITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RIBBON FEEDApplication October 23, 1931. Serial No. 570,627

7 Claims.

This invention relates to ribbon feed mechanism designed to be used in aparcel post machine such as is disclosed in a co-pending applicationSerial Number 367,106, filed May 29, 1929, by William J. Pearson, titledParcel Post weighing and stamp printing machine. This machine isdesigned for printing purposes, more particularly the printing ofmetered parcel post stamps, wherein it may be required to print a stampbearing the name of the place of original mailing, the date, the zonenumber to which the package is addressed, the weight of the package inpounds, the monetary value of the stamp derived from the weight and thezone, a serial number, and such other words, phrases, and figures, ordecorations and designations as it may be desired to print. This machineis used in conjunction with a scale, meters and a .paper supply, and maybe motor driven and used for any printing purpose. This invention isparticularly adapted for the printing of parcel post stamps upon a paperstrip which is delivered from the machine, cut to the proper stamplength, and, being gummed on the ,reverse side, may be moistened at thedelivery point of the machine, and in this condition attached to thepackage to be mailed.

This invention provides a means for making a duplicate copy of therecited stamp, and further provides a platen for the printing of thestamp. The ribbon feed device is situated immediately below the numeralprinter and in the line of travel of the paper tape. It is provided witha sectional guide means wherein the paper tapes are separated and passedthrough the guides in such relation that the inking ribbon lays betweenthem during the process of printing and the separation of the papertapes permits the stamp proper to be passed directly out of the machineand cut off, and the duplicate to be passed below the knife level andwound on a spindle provided for that purpose. However, the duplicatetape may be cut off and issued from the machine with the stamp ifdesired by slight modification of construction.

This invention further provides in the ribbon feed device means forholding and operating a ribbon feed for the duplicate printing operationwherein the ribbon is fed past the printing zone a certain distance ofits length before each operation of the numeral printer, and, upon theribbon being unwound from one of the spools, theresistance offered bythe pull from the spindle to which it is secured reverses the feedingmecha nism, whereupon the ribbon is Wound upon the It further provides ameans whereby, should the ribbon become caught by being torn or wrinkledand refuse to feed in one direction, the feeding mechanism willimmediately reverse and continue to feed and reverse within that limitwith- -59 out disrupting the operation of the machine. The drive for thefeed mechanism is a positive drive through ratchets and providesmovement throughout that portion of operation wherein it is necessary toactuate the ribbon feed mechanism.

An object of my invention is to provide a ribbon feed device that isreadily accessible for replacing the ribbon used therein, that is ofsimpleand durable construction, that contains in one unit the platen forthe numeral printer, the guide ways for the paper strips, separatingmeans for the paper strips, a cutting edge for the knife, and a feedingmechanism including the reversing elements for the ribbon.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will hereinafter be setforth, and I will explain the invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate one particular embodiment of myinvention, which, however, is capable of various changes in form,construction, and

combination of parts within the scope of my in- Vention.

To the above purposes my invention consists in the novel construction,arrangement and combination of parts as hereinafter fully, clearly and ring device, the numeral printer, the moistener, 9

and the keyboard, taken from the left side of .a parcel post machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ribbon feeding device showing the numeralprinter, the rotary printer, and the drive mechanism vfor the ribbon Afeed.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the numeral printer unit and the ribbonfeeding devicefrom the front of the parcel post machine.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the numeral 31 printer unit and theribbon feeding device from the rear of the parcel post machine. 7

Fig. 5 is an elevational view, partlyinsection of the numeral printerunit and the ribbon feeding device from the rear similar to Fig. 4, but13 9 in solid linesanda second position inbrokendines.

Fig. '7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the ribbon feed mechanismoperating in the reverse direction to that shown in Fig. 6, one positionbeing illustrated in solid lines and a second position in broken lines.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view in side elevation of the gearing of theribbon feed mechanism, partly in section.

Ribbon feed vice 10, which includes a carriage 11 and a dater block '12;a series of numeral printing wheels 13;

and an automatic serial numbering device 14; all of these parts aresupported within the printer housing at either end by a frame 15, andride vertically therein between tracks, not shown. One of the printeractuating elements,

the hammer 16, is also slidably mounted in frame 15, and in its descentengages the uppermost type presented at that point, and carriesdownwardly the entire printing mechanism for the purpose of printing,whereupon the type contacts the paper tapes between which is threadedthe ink ribbon 17 The paper tapes and interposed ink ribbon lie withinthe guide plate 18, which has cut-out sec tions for printing purposes,supported by frames 19 upon the anvil 20 containing a semi-resilientplaten 21 against which the type bears.

The ribbon device consists of a pair of supporting frames 22, as bestshown in Figs. 1 and 5, in which are rotatably mounted ribbon re-windspindles 23 and 24 upon which the ribbon 17 is wound and to which eachend is secured; the spindles are connected at one end with the actuatingmechanism comprising a gear 25, secured to the shaft of the spindle 24,and meshing with a similar gear 26 on the shaft 27, and a ratchettoothed wheel 28 keyed to the shaft 2'7 and actuated by a drivemechanism to operate the spindle 24 to roll thereon the ink ribbon 17;for the purpose of winding the ribbon in the opposite direction, thespindle 23 is related to a gear 29, which meshes with a similar gearwheel 30 mounted on a sleeve shaft rotatably supported on the shaft 27,the gear 30 having secured to one side of it a toothed ratchet wheel 31which is actuated by the feed mechanism. The relation of these parts isbest illustrated in Fig. 8.

The feed mechanism or ribbon re-wind comprises a device wherein eitherone or two ratchet elements are constantly in gear with one or the otherof the two ratchet wheels 28 or 31. As the ribbon is wound upon one ofthe spindles in the original assembly of the machine it is required thatthe ribbon be wound therefrom upon the other spindle, which is done bymeans of the feed mechanism; upon the entire length of the ribbon beingwound upon spindle 23, the drive mechanism is reversed and the contactmade in the opposite direction with the ratchet wheel 28, which by itsgearing operates spindle 24 to rewind the ribbon upon it. 7'5

either of the spindles 23 or 24; this re-wind operation will occurautomatically also at any time that the mechanism may become jammed bythe ribbon, for instance, the ribbon becoming caught in the guide plate13, whereupon the drive mechanism will automatically reverse from thetension of the ribbon; the consequent pull will reverse the drivemechanism and wind the ribbon on the opposite spool until it is full,then reverse again j if the ribbon still catches at any point in itstravel the tension created will cause the driving mechanism to againreverse, and this will continue until the ribbon is replaced or themechanism cleared.

This device, therefore, provides a means for reversing a ribbon whereinthe ribbon play may be utilized regardless of how short the ribbon maybe, as it does not rely upon the size of the roll created by winding theribbon on the spindle, but is controlled entirely by the tension of theribbon while being re-wound.

For more clearly illustrating the relation of this ribbon feed to theoperating units of a parcel post machine, I have illustrated such ofthose units as are most closely allied with the operation of the numeralprinter, the ink ribbon and its mechanism. The moistening unit C(Fig. 1) is adapted to receive the paper tape to the full length of aprinted stamp withinthe guide plate 32; when so received the tape issevered from the remaining paper tape by means of the knife 33. For thepurpose of moistening the stamp there is provided a tank as containing amoistener roller 35; above roller 35 and adapted to contact it with therequired pressure, is a pressure feed roller 36. The moistening roller35, which is gear related to the driving means, is adapted to be rotatedsufficiently to bring the moistening surface of the roller to thecontact point of the stamp. To this end I have provided on the shaft ofroller 35 a gear 37 meshing with another gear 38, which in turn mesheswith the drive gear 39 manually operated by a handle 40; the pressureroller 36 is gear-related to the drive gear 39 by means of a secondarygear ll mounted upon a shaft 42, which is supported in arocking carriage43 fulcrumed on the main shaft 44, to which the handle so and the maingear 39 are secured; the carriage 43 is tensioned toward the positiondisclosed in Fig. 1 by means of a spring 45.

The operation of moistening and discharging a stamp is performed movingthe handle 40 toward the right of Fig. 1, which is toward the front ofthe machine as the operator faces the machine; this movement rotatesdrive gear 39 and by means of the connected gears 38, 3'7, rotates themoistening roller 35; by reason of the pressure between the gear wheel39 and the gear wheel 41 the movement of drive gear 39 carries the gear41 with it without relative movement of these gears, thereby rocking thecarriage 43 with a downward movement until the rollers 35 and 36contact, whereupon the vertical movement of the carriage 13 stops; thehandle 40, then continuing to move thereby rotates the gear wheel 41,and consequently the engaging rollers 35 and 36. As the rollers 35 and36 rotate in opposite directions, the stamp will pass to the right, asviewed in Fig. 1, onto the discharge plate 46, Where it may be obtainedby the operator; upon release of the handle 40 the mechanism, undertension of the spring 45, returns to original position.

In Fig. 1 there is indicated diagrammatically, a keyboard D, the purposeof which is to provide means for setting up on the numeral wheels 18 ofnumeral printer A a combination of figures which it is desired to print.3 s

Fig. 1 also shows a spindle 47 for winding up a duplicate paper tape 48,which constitutes a duplicate print of the original stamp as printed bythe numeral printer; the printing of this duplicate stamp isaccomplished by means of the ink ribbon 17, which is so disposed as tonormally lie between the two paper tapes comprising the original andduplicate stamp within the guide plate 18, as best shown in Figs. 4 and5.

In Fig. 2 a fragment of the main drive shaft 49 is shown at the top ofthe figure, to which are connected all of the driven elements of themachine, among which are the rotary printer E and the numeral printer A.The parcel post machine herein disclosed is designed to operate acomplete cycle comprising the printing period wherein the main driveshaft 49 makes one revolution.

The rotary printing drum 54 rotates continuously with the drive shaft 49through the connecting gears 51 and 52 and shaft 53, for the purpose ofdistributing ink from the inking pad 55 by means of the ink roller 56onto the indicia plate 57; the indicia plate 57 occupies approximatelyone-third of the circumference of the drum 54 and the relation is soadjusted that the indicia plate 57 will contact" the paper tapeat theinstant that the paper tape starts forward on its feed movement, therebyprinting a stamp form upon the paper tape preparatory to the printing ofthe stamp upon the same tape and within the form by the numeral printerA.

The paper tape is forwarded within one-third 'of the machine cycle bymeans of the clutch 50 contacting the driven gear wheel 58, which, bymeans of the contacting gear 59 and an additional gear wheel, not shown,secured to one end of the shaft 60, effects the rotation of shaft 60upon which is mounted a platen roller, not shown; the shaft 60 hassecured to its opposite end a face cam 61 which is adapted to contactcam roller 62 mounted upon a rocker arm 63 fulcrumed on a post 64 andtensioned to cam 61 by spring 65; arm 63 is connected to the ribbon feedby means of the slotted end 66 in which rides a pin 67 mounted in therocking arm 68 of the ribbon feed mechanism. The limited operation ofthe shaft 60, which is governed by the length of the stamp printed inrelation to the circumference of the platen rollergis utilized tooperate the ribbon feed and reversing mechanism; as the paper tape isforwarded only during the portion of the printing cycle wherein thenumeral printer is not engaging the paper tapes and the ink ribbon, theink ribbon may be actuated at this point in the operation withoutconflicting with the movement of any other part of the machine.

The rocking arm 68 is rockably mounted on shaft 27 and supports arockably mounted bearing arm 69 which has a bifurcated section acrosswhich is mounted a shaft 70, on which are rotatably mounted within thebifurcated section toothed wheel elements 71, 72 and 73; these toothedwheel elements comprise one toothed star wheel 73, having V teeth,secured to each side of which in staggered toothed relation, are the tworatchet pawl Wheels 71 and 72, each provided with four teeth, of suchcharacter that their engagement with contacting teeth is limited bytheir shape and the depth of the cut on one side; the V toothed wheel 73is tensioned for positioning the pawls '71 and 72 by a strong spring 74having a curved engaging section '75 adapted under pressure to slideover the point of the V teeth of the star wheel 73 with which itengages, permitting the star wheel 73 to rotate relative to its shaft,thus rotating the pawls 71 and 72 relative to the star wheel 73.

As illustrated in Fig. 6 in solid lines, the members are in a positionwhere the star wheel 73 is engaged by the spring 75, and attached pawl'72 is engaging a tooth of the ratchet wheel 28. In broken lines in thesame figure is shown the limit of movement in the cycle of rockingoperation of the ribbon feed device, wherein the rockably mounted partshave moved to the broken lines shown at '76, whereupon the ratchet wheel28, mounted on shaft 27, has rotated the intermediate gear 26 whichoperates the gear 25 secured to the spindle 24, thereby winding theribbon 17 by an amount equal to the distance traveled by the ratchetwheel 71. The mechanism is returned to original position by means of thespring 65 (Fig. 2), which tensions the bar 63.

Assuming for the purpose of illustration that the end of the ribbon hasbeen reached as it was originally wound on spindle 23, and that theentire ribbon is now wound upon spindle 24, the tension created by apull on the end of the ribbon secured to spindle 23, causes the feedmechanism to reverse.

This reversing process takes place through the contacting of the pawl'71 against one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 28; from the fact thatthe ratchet wheel 28 is now held rigid against rotation by the tensionof the ink ribbon, the pawl 71 will of necessity be forced to rotate onthe shaft by means of the toothed engagement with wheel 28; the starwheel '73 will thereby be rotated and caused to force the spring '75 outof engagement with the faces of the two teeth between which it has beenresiding and force it over the point of the next V tooth into contactwith the faces of the next two teeth; the pawl 71 rotates sufiicientlyto present to ratchet wheel 28 the blank area between its teeth, andpawl '72 is rotated to present one of its teeth for engagement with theratchet wheel 31. By referring to Fig. 7, and comparing it with Fig. 6,the varied positions may be ascertained by the parts of the figuresdrawn in solid lines; in Fig. '7, the pawl 72, which is the companionpawl to pawl 71, is shown in engaging position against the ratchet wheel28, connected to the gear wheel 30 (Fig. 8), which meshes with andactuates the wheel 29 secured to the shaft 77 to which is connected thespindle 23; therefore the operation of the rocking arm 68 will nowactuate the feed mechanism to operate spindle 23 in place of the spindle24, thus re-winding the ribbon upon the spindle 23 to the extent of themovement made at each printing operation; this process will be repeatedas rapidly as each spindle becomes wound to the length of the ribbonunfed from the opposite spindle; also, this re-winding process may takeplace at any time that the ribbon becomes caught with any of the partsacross or through which it passes and creates a sufficient tension tothrow over the star wheel ,73. The bearing arm 69 is tensioned intocontact with the ratchet wheels 28 and 31 by means of a propertensioning spring '78, one end of the spring being mounted in the arm 69and its other end being mounted in the rocker arm 68, thus providingeven tension at all positions of the rocker arm 68. All of the parts ofthe ribbon feed are mounted on one of the plates 22 at one end ofthe-inking ribbon device.

The operation of the ribbon inking device has of necessity beenexplained in conjunction 5 with the description of the parts comprisingthe same; it is only necessary to remark that the movements describedare timed to occur within the required portion of the printing cycle ofoperation and may be of such character that the drive cam 61 (Fig. 2)may stop at any point in its rotation, or if required, may make not onlya portion of a rotation but a rotation plus an additional portion whichmay be required by the length of the stamp to be printed; the stoppingof this cam at any point, and the consequent stopping of the feedingmechanism at any particular position in which it may be, will not in anyway interfere with the successful operation of this device, as it isonly required that the ribbon be fed past the printing zone a very smallamount at each operation of the machine; thedisposition of the pawls andratchet Wheels is such that at each printing operation the ribbon willbe moved some degree, while at others it will be move-d a considerabledegree, but in the course of a length ,of time the usage of the machine,the entire rib- -'bon will have been evenly utilized for printingpurposes, and therefore the wear Will not be ex cessive on anyparticular part of the ribbon. The added value of this device inproviding means whereby a ribbon may be reversed by the tension of theribbon only, provides a safety measure for the operation of a parcelpost machine which is very essential to meet the rigid requirements formachines of such character, wherein it Will be practically impossible tooperate a machine without printing a duplicate stamp when required to doso by the Post Office regulations; to this end, I have providedmechanism wherein the reversing process will take place at any time thatthe ribbon becomes abnormally tensioned; therefore, if from any causeWhatever the ribbon becomes tangled with any portion of the machine uponits passage therethrough, the reversing process is instantly inauguratedand the ribbon reversed, thus preventing tearing of the ribbon or anyfurther mutilation of it whatsoever, and further, providing a fresh areaof ribbon to be contacted by the numeral printer during the process ofprinting a stamp.

While the form of mechanism here shown and described is admirablyadapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understoodthat it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form ofembodiment herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment invarious forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a pair of ribbon spindles, agear on each of said spindles, a shaft adjacent said spindles, andribbon-reversing means on said shaft adjacent one end thereof, saidmeans comprising gears engaging said spindle gears, ratchet wheelsassociated with said gears, a rock arm on said shaft, a bearing armrcckably supported on said rock arm, and springtensioned ratchetelements carried by said bearing arm for engaging one or the other ofsaid ratchet wheels.

2. In a device of the character described, a pair of spindles, a ribbonadapted to be attached to and wound on said spindles, a gear on each ofsaid spindles, a shaft adjacent said spindles and parallel thereto, agear on said shaft engagelements carried by said rocking arm forengaging one of said ratchet wheels to wind said ribbon upon one spindleand for engaging the other ratchet wheel to reverse the winding of theribbon and wind said ribbon on the other spindle.

3. In a device of the character described, a pair of spindles, a ribbonadapted to be attached to and wound upon said spindles, a shaft, gearingconnecting said shaft and said spindles, a rocking arm supported on saidshaft, a springtensioned bearing arm rockably supported on said rockingarm, ratchet wheels on said shaft associated with said gearing, andspring-pressed ratchet elements carried by said bearing arm for engagingone of said ratchet wheels to actuate one of said spindles through saidgearing for winding said ribbon upon said actuated spindle,

and forengaging the otherratchet wheel to actuate the other spindle forwinding said ribbon upon said other spindle upon a predetermined ribbontension.

4. In a device of the character described, a pair of ribbon spindles, agear on each of saidspindles, a shaft adjacent said spindles, a gearfixed to said shaft and engaging one of said spindle gears, a sleeve onsaid shaft, a gear fixed to said sleeve and engaging the other spindlegear, a rocking arm rockably supported on said shaft, ratchet wheelsfixed to said shaft gear and said sleeve gear, respectively, said shaftgear, sleeve gear, rocking arm and ratchet wheels being adjacent one endof said shaft, and ratchet elements carried by said rocking arm adjacentsaid ratchet wheels for engaging one of said ratchet wheels to drive thegears connected with one ribbon spindle and for disengaging said ratchetwheel and engaging the other ratchet wheel upon a predeterminedribbontension to drive the gears connected to the other spindle andreverse the ribbon winding.

5. In a device of the character described, a pair of ribbon spindles, agear on each of said spindles, a drive shaft adjacent said spindles andparallel thereto, gears on said shaft adjacent one end thereofengaging'said spindle gears respectively, and reversing mechanismcomprising an engageable member adjacent each of said shaft gears andfixed thereto, a movable arm on said shaft, a bearing arm mounted onsaid movable arm and movable relative thereto, and engaging members onsaid bearing arm adapted to engage one or the other of said engageablemembers to connect one of said spindles with said drive shaft and fordisengaging such connection and connecting the other spindle with saiddrive shaft upon a predetermined ribbon tension.

6. In a device of the character described, a pair of ribbon spindles, agear on each of said spindles, a drive shaft, a sleeve on said shaft,differential gearing on said sleeve and shaft, ratchet wheels secured tosaid gearing, a movable arm on said shaft, a spring-tensioned bearingarm pivotally attached to said movable arm, and spring-ts sioned ratchetelements on said bearing arm for connecting first one spindle and thenthe other with said drive shaft.

'7. In a device of the character described, a pair of spindles, a ribbonadapted to be attached to and wound on said spindles, a gear on each ofsaid spindles, a shaft adjacent said spindles and ried by said bearingarm for engaging one of said ratchet Wheels to wind said ribbon upon onespindle and for engaging the other ratchet Wheel to reverse the Windingof the ribbon, and spring means for holding said ratchet elements inengaged position.

THOMAS I. BROWN.

